Reducing the temperature will allow the infrared camera to properly
The James Webb telescope is almost ready to start the robots / Photo: NASA
Nearly four months after launch, the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope has taken a big step towards its first deep space observations.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission team confirmed this week that the Webb Telescope’s temperature has dropped to the point where observations can begin.
The James Webb telescope has been in space for almost 4 months / Photo: NASA
The most important part of the telescope, the mid-infrared instrument (MIRI), has reached its final operating temperature of minus 266 degrees Celsius! Other instruments of the telescope have cooled to minus 183 degrees Celsius.
Why low temperatures are good
The instruments of the James Webb Telescope detect infrared light emitted by distant galaxies, stars and planets outside our solar system.
Telescope components, if too warm, will also emit infrared light, making it difficult for scientists to understand the collected data, so cooling them solves this problem.
James Webb telescope will allow humanity to look beyond the solar system / Photo: NASA
Cooling the telescope also suppresses the so-called “dark current” – an electric current created by the vibration of atoms in Webb detectors, which can also confuse the telescope as to where the light source is coming from, according to digitaltrends.com.
Now Webb’s team will take test images of celestial objects in deep space to calibrate the telescope’s instruments and make sure everything is working properly. The first images will be available in the summer.
Source: Segodnya
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